Lucy, married to Ollie, never got close to her mother-in-law, Diana. Lucy regrets this, as her own mother died when she was young. But Diana is very much the matriarch of the family,and controls its considerable purse strings. She is busy with a charity looking after pregnant refugee women in Australia and exudes self-confidence.
Ten years on, when Diana is found dead, apparently having committed suicide after earlier telling the family she had cancer, at first it seems no questions are to be asked.
But the story backtracks, with chapters devoted to first-person accounts by Lucy and then Diana, filling in the gaps in their lives. The reader gradually learns what motivates Diana and why she couldn’t reach out to Lucy; who in turn cannot fathom how to build a real relationship with her mother-in-law.
Throw into the mix Diana’s loving husband, Tom; their daughter, Nettie, and her husband, Patrick; and the complicated lives and desires all members of a family have, and the pot just needs stirring for a multigenerational whodunnit.
There is confusion when an autopsy reveals Diana did not have cancer, and evidence of suffocation is revealed. So who wanted her dead? And why did her will, dealing with large amounts of money and property, present such a shock to the family members?
Babies, past and present, as well as those Diana helps to provide for with her refugee women, are a constant thread of interest in this novel, and a major cause of family discontent.
Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, most recently The Soulmate. Her novel, The Mother-In-Law(2019), has been optioned for a TV series by Hollywood actress and producer, Amy Poehler.
Drawing on the good, the bad and the downright odd of human behaviour, Sally writes incisively about family, relationships and identity. Her domestic thriller novels are laced with quirky humour, sass and a darkly charming tone.
Sally’s novels are available around the globe in English and have been translated into 20 languages. She has sold more than one million books worldwide.
Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia with her family.
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